Gap Year
A Gap Year refers to an interval without formal education, occurring between high school and college. Often students need the time to re-charge and/or gain new experiences before embarking upon higher education studies. The value of the pre-college year is that students can acquire life skills and strategies that contribute to increased success in college.
Taking a Gap Year is a common practice in Europe. And, U.S. colleges and universities often look favorably upon this option, finding that students who matriculate after taking a gap are more mature, focused, and better able to articulate observations and opinions. Colleges do prefer to see that student applicants have taken the opportunity to do something productive during the Gap Year break from school.
Types of Gap Year Programs
Students may wish to pursue one or more of the following kinds of Gap experiences. Any of these can be done for part of a year, since a combination of activities might be more enjoyable throughout the year:
- Community service projects, domestic and international
- Environmental study or service projects
- Programs promoting leadership skills and personal development
- Work or internship opportunities
- Travel and exploration opportunities
As you can infer from this list, it is not always necessary to pay tuition in order to participate in a Gap Year program.
When to Apply to Colleges
If you’re planning to take Gap Year, we recommend that you still apply to college during your Senior year – and then, after you’ve been accepted to college, request to defer your enrollment at the college of your choice. The college application process is time-consuming and requires interaction with many people on Paly’s campus; this is difficult to achieve when you’re busy off campus during the Gap Year.
Caution regarding UC and CSU:
The University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) systems do not grant deferments, as a rule. If you want to attend one of these colleges, you will need to apply by November of your Gap Year.
Earning College Credit During Your Gap Year
Many organized Gap Year programs give students the option of earning college credit for the courses or experiences they offer. Private and public colleges may accept such coursework.
Caution regarding UC and CSU:
If students earn college credit beyond the summer after graduation from high school, the UCs and CSUs will no longer view them as entering Freshmen. The UCs and CSUs accept very few lower-division transfer students. Students who earn college credit in the academic year after high school and want to attend the UC or CSU after their Gap Year will have a better chance of being admitted if they attend community college to complete their general education requirements (generally completed in 2 years), then transfer to a UC or CSU as a Junior.